The present invention relates to a remote sensing device. More particularly, it relates to remote wireless monitors designed to sense, collect, and transmit component performance information such as pressure, temperature, current, vibration, and humidity.
There are many wireless sensors on the market and they all do essentially the same thing. A sensor senses some parameter and assigns some quantity to it. This parameter may be a temperature or a pressure, for example. The sensor sends the assigned value to a transmitter in a digital or analog format using wires. This value is transmitted via radio frequency (RF) to a receiver. The receiver is usually part of the data collection system, so the data can be read and interpreted. The transmitter may or may not require external power, but it usually is battery powered. The receiver typically requires external power.
A sensor can be part of the transmitter package or it can be separate from the transmitter. When the sensor is integral to the transmitter, the identities of the sensor and its data cables are housed in the transmitter. The sensor is then a component of the transmitter. Changing the sensor does not change anything in the transmitter. In this instance, to change information in the transmitter, a manual configuration process is required, if it can be done at all.
In the case where the sensor is not part of the transmitter, the sensor is generic and has to be defined. The configuration is done either in the transmitter or in the receiver and is done manually.
In either case, the identity is attached to the transmitter, and a manual association is made between the sensor and the transmitter. The recipient of the signal must assume that, since the data was received from transmitter X, which is assumed to have a sensor Y attached to it, then the data from transmitter X must be type Y. The sensor has to communicate its information to the transmitter.
In essence, in prior art wireless sensors, the identity of the sensor is defined by the transmitter and/or the receiver. The identity may include a unique name, sensor type, and calibration curves. All of this information is manually configured and then managed. This manual configuration and management introduces the potential for error and is very labor intensive.